Meeting opened shorly after 08:00.
Invocation: Laura Brecht
Pledge: Bill Lewis
Song: Borrego Rotary, Bill Lewis on guitar, Martha Diechler on banjo
Guests: Kaye Bailey and 3 from San Antonio TX, who accompanied Martha to Africa: Jenny Williams, Kristi Rodriguez & Kathy Puente
Happy $:
- Bill Lewis - went to District meeting in Encinitas. He was accompanied by his wife Carol, Andrew & Veronica Przestatlski & Sylvia Meeks
- Kathy Puente - enjoyed her visit here in Borrego Springs
Report on District Goverment Meeting presented by Bill Lewis
Several hundred people were present . The main topic was ideas to promote membership. There was a speaker who was very dynamic.
Bill feels our Rotary does well considering the number of people we have here in Borrego Springs. We make about $18,000/year. Based on the population of Borrego and our 30+ members, our fund raising has done well.
Bill also feels the presentation was very interesting, but did not feel the information was very applicable to our Rotary. There was a skit that Sylvana Meeks was in that was very entertaining.
This was the 3rd district meeting that Bill has attended. He sees 2 things we need to do as a group:
- Attract new members
- Keep old members
- Become more involved internationally
Update on Martha Diechler's Activities
- Went to Dennis Avery's Memorial and found it to be a wonderful experience. She had the pleasure to meet his children and his wife, Sally Wong.
- While in Africa, she went to a Rotary meeting in Liberia and has brought back the flag from West Africa
Report on the Liberian Trip presented by Kathy Puente
In Liberia, there are no books. There is a basic literary problem. All the reading is based on writing on chalk boards. There is such a need for teaching teachers how to teach. They taught the teachers how to engage the students in the courses.
Martha taught administration techniques on how to turn the schools around. She taught how to catalog and shelve books. A big part of the process was shelving books according to a system. It is a long term process year to year in Liberia.
There will be a 2 day conference in Liberia to pass down the information to the rest of the teaching staff.
3 subjects were integrated concerning the wetlands:
- Science
- Arts
- Social Studies
The first week brought in high school students & the 2nd week brought in the teachers. The basics of trash disposal was explored with each group. The disposal of trash at home, in the schools and in the community was discussed, as there is no trash disposal in Liberia.
The country is in poverty. There is no electricity, no bathrooms and trash everywhere. Despite the horrific poverty, every person in the classroom was hanging on every word.
Bill discussed helping the group by shipping books to Liberia, as there is a huge need for books.
